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<title>The Tales of the Barbarian and the Thief by m_elizabeth</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24445441">The Tales of the Barbarian and the Thief</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_elizabeth/pseuds/m_elizabeth'>m_elizabeth</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>South Park</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Barbarian Tweek - Freeform, Developing Friendship, Developing Relationship, Fantasy, Feldspar Craig, Grand Wizard Eric, M/M, Magic, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Mythical Beings &amp; Creatures, South Park: The Stick of Truth, Stick of Truth AU, Thief Craig</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:53:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24445441</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_elizabeth/pseuds/m_elizabeth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Creek and Stick of Truth inspired story, the ratings may change because I have no idea what I plan to do this with yet</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Craig Tucker/Tweek Tweak</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Tales of the Barbarian and the Thief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cheap loyalties meant very little to a thief; in his line of the profession, they change frequently. The person you worked with one day could order a hit on your life the next. This cycle could even repeat more than once for the same person. In reality, they were entirely bases on convenience alone. Everything and anything was fair game. The lifestyle of a thief meant Craig never had the chance to trust and had been completely unwilling to become attached. </p><p>After all, thiefs worked best alone. </p><p>So technically he held a half-hearted loyalty to Kupa Keep, the general realm where human’s resided. However, growing up a poverty-stricken abandoned child on the dirty streets of the main city, he began to hold a deeply ridden hatred for the royal family. Without any other foreseeable future insight for himself, the orphan turned to crime to keep himself from starving to death.</p><p>It started out small, a wallet here, a watch there. However, as he gained a skill for the craft he began more rewarding heists off of nobles. There also were some setbacks in his career. For instance, the time he broke his arm jumping out of a two-story window to escape Kupa’s guards.</p><p>As much as he had a distaste for Kupa, the Wizard's use of propaganda did have an unfortunate lasting effect on Feldspar. Any creature with magic or just not apart of Kupa’s Kingdom was presented as evil: Elves, Ogres, Barbarians. </p><p>“You can’t do this!” He heard a woman yell from the distance. Normally Craig would disregard such a thing, but something was pulling him to pay close attention to the situation, keeping a ready hand on his dagger. After a few moments, the situation became clear, the distressed woman’s child was being taken away by the King’s knights for having magic.</p><p>One second he was standing in the distance, and the next? He only realized what he had done when he found himself over a knight bleeding out. “You need to run,” he whispered to the mother, “Hide somewhere where you won’t be found.”  </p><p>As the pair fled the scene only then did he realize the severity of his situation. The Kupa would certainly put out a full city-wide search to find the dirt criminal who dared to pass his dagger through one of the Wizard’s knights. He would be tortured before executed publically as a lesson.</p><p>So, he ran. He ran and ran until he reached the city’s border and scaled up the looming wall. For the first time since his birth, Feldspar took his first step outside of Kupa’s land. Something about leaving the gates that were deemed for protection felt so freeing. </p><p>He traveled for days, always cautious to check if he was being followed. If he were found he would be dead. After his third day, he made it to the border between open land and The Lost Forrest and cautiously he made his way down the first dirt trail he could find.</p><p>Adrenaline was pumping through Feldspar’s body as he made his way through this unknown world. He had never seen trees like this, massive and looming over a seemingly unending stretch of land. Everything he had ever heard growing up in Kupa raced in his mind, unknown to him that most is to keep them too terrified of leaving the Grand Wizards reign. </p><p>He had no idea what could be lurking in the Lost Woods, other than the stories passed down from one to another, who also had never been. Tales of wolves or of monsters sent his heart racing a million miles a minute as he carefully made his way down the path.</p><p>The stories that scared him the most growing up were legends surrounding that of the Barbian Race, brutes that wouldn’t give it a second thought to kill you in cold blood for stepping in there territory-- The Lost Forrest.  Behind his stoic expression, Feldspar was terrified.</p><p>Feldspar had the picture of a giant intimidating figure, too primitive to even speak the language of his homeland and ready. They were painted up in lines that corresponded with their skills of attack that helped them stay hidden within the brush. These Barbarians were armed with handmade weapons, crafted for the most efficient execution. </p><p>Then he heard a long series of cracks and snaps off the path and froze dead in his spot. The thief slowly began to back up into the nearby brush to hide his presence, while hovering his hand over the handle of the blade. He hadn’t pulled it out yet, but he lied in the shadows trying to ready himself for whatever was to come.</p><p>The thief froze completely at the unfortunate sight of golden hair in the distance. Fuck, this proved his worst fears that both he was not alone and that he was being watched. </p><p>This stranger was too far away for him to figure anything about him. Had he been sent on behalf of Kupa Kingdom to assassinate him for his Crimes against the royal knights. Could it be a tricky nymph who dwelled in the treetops of the magical forest, looking to cause mischief against Feldspar? </p><p>There was no way to hide the fact that Feldspar had been terrified of any option that could follow, and hoped to not have to find out. </p><p>Feldspar had no way of truly telling from this distance, but he hoped to lurk in the shadows would be enough to keep whoever or whatever this lurker was far away from him. With nearly silent footing the thief made an attempt to escape.</p><p>There were some attributes that came with having to grow up a professional thief, right now the handiest was his ability to be discrete in a high stakes situation. Silently lurking through the shadows was a skill he had acquired well before even reaching the age of ten. Having this skill meant whether or not he would starve to death, and now it presumingly meant whether or not he got killed.</p><p>While an entirely different situation, Feldspar had been mentally taken back the first time he had finally reached the desperation to steal for the first time back in the dusty slum streets of Kupa. The anxiety racing through his very being, afraid that he could be caught at any moment, killed even. </p><p>Silent, he told himself. Feldspar kept trying to convince himself that this was just like the work of a thief, that he had done this a hundred times over. He had heard the movement from the distance, causing him to in a moment of panic slip into the dirt, causing a cacophony unfortunate noises.</p><p>As fast as Feldspar could, he rushed his way up and rain deeper into the woods, looking for new protection from the unknown predator's view. </p><p>The thief had been experienced in quick clean getaways, but in the depths of The Enchanted Forrest Feldspar was completely out of his element. This, unfortunately, showed as his movements were a lot less precise and that he would consistently almost trip on whatever lay on the earth. </p><p>He could make it out of these awful woods if he could remain unfound. A loud guttural war cry brought the raven out of focus. As Feldspar silently he ran until he tripped in the brush and pain shot through his ankle. He mentally cursed his clumsiness and bit the inside of his lip to keep any noise of discomfort from escaping. With an almost uneasily small amount of time, he was able to think through the pain to pick out a place where even with his cape he could blend in and ducked into the shadows.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Soooo, this was chapter one! The next chapter is going to cover base up until the end of chapter 1 with Tweek's point of view, but after that, I have no idea where I'm going to go with this piece. </p><p>please let me know in the comments your thoughts, how you liked (or disliked this chapter), and what you would like to see.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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